Jacqueline Gray and James Shughart have been charged with at least three counts of animal cruelty as a result of the initial investigation of animal abuse at 34780 Funk Road in eastern El Paso County.In November, El Paso County deputies responded to complaints of animal abuse and neglect at the Funk Road site. According to El Paso County regulations, the sheriff’s department is the first responder to animal issues in the county. If the sheriff’s deputy determines the situation warrants further assistance from animal welfare officers, they call the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region.Shortly after they arrived on the scene, the deputies called the HSPPR.Dr. Wes Metzler, executive director of the HSPPR, said his staff found about 40 animals on the property – llamas, goats, geese, chickens, horses, more than 20 dogs and several cats. Metzler, who also visited the property, said Gray and Shughart admitted to owning the animals that veterinarians deemed abused. Upon examination, the majority of the animals in residence were not victims of animal cruelty, he said.Although Jim and Amy Gargala also lived on the property at Funk Road, they were not charged with any counts of animal cruelty or neglect.The Gargalas and Gray and Shughart have moved. The Gargalas were permitted to keep a few of their animals, and in a Jan. 11 interview, Metzler addressed the reasons they were not charged and other questions that remained unanswered from previous newspaper reports and media coverage of the case.Metzler said the Gargalas admitted they were in over their heads with that many animals on the property. They were willing to cooperate with the HSPPR and give up their horses and llamas. In part, their compliance with the animal welfare officers contributed to the fact that the HSPPR was able to make “significant progress” within 48 hours, he said.The Gargalas also moved to a property that is licensed by the Colorado Pet Care and Facilities Act, Metzler said. The person who owns the property carries the license because he owns kennels, he said. And the property owner agreed to help the Gargalas with their animals, which now include goats, dogs and one sheep. “We’ve been out five or six times, and the state will be back to inspect at least every month,” Metzler said. “We were going twice a week for awhile, and now it’s once a week.”All of the animals the Gargalas did relinquish to the HSPPR have been adopted, he added. Neighbors opened their homes to other animals on the property as well.Rep. Marsha Looper also took many of the llamas, which were thin, but Metzler said a veterinarian determined their condition did not call for charges of neglect.None of the living animals found on the site had to be euthanized, Metzler said. “One horse was in terrible condition, but the horse is now doing well,” he said. And one dog was found in “bad shape,” he added. But he, too, recovered.In past reports, the eyewitness stories of what happened at the Funk Road property varied, from neighbors to deputies to the HSPPR.Pat Miller, owner of Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue in Rush, had been quoted in the Jan. 6 article in The New Falcon Herald as stating that she had taken two dogs from the Funk Road property to Dr. Robert DeAngelo at Calhan Veterinary Clinic. Miller told writer Kathy Hare that DeAngelo determined that – because of the condition of the dogs – they needed to be euthanized. However, Metzler had a different story.”Pat Miller showed up the day I was out there,” Metzler said, with the two dogs (in plastic bags) that DeAngelo had euthanized. No one on the property at the time recognized the dogs or owned up to them, he said. Metzler then called DeAngelo for a professional opinion. “Dr. DeAngelo said he told Pat Miller the dogs could be treated, but she said she couldn’t afford the treatment so he said, ‘The best thing to do is euthanize them,'” Metzler said.According to other accounts from neighbors and pictures taken at the residence, numerous carcasses and bones were found strewn about the property.However, Metzler said the HSPPR can do nothing about half-eaten carcasses or bones and fresh fur. “We found eight carcasses on the property – three were puppies that had died recently,” he said. “We couldn’t find any evidence that they had been mistreated.”Metzler said some of the bones were identified as elk and deer. It appeared that the elk and deer had been brought to the property and butchered for meat, he said.Prosecutors want solid evidence when it relates to animal abuse and neglect, he said. The HSSPR must be able to “back up the idea that someone did something illegal to the animal,” Metzler said. “Probable cause.”Probable cause is vital in any case of animal abuse or neglect, a call that Metzler said is always made by a veterinarian after he or she examines the animal.Witnesses said the living conditions in which the Gargalas and Gray and Shughart lived were deplorable. But Metzler said animal cruelty charges cannot be filed based on the way the humans choose to live. “The county is remiss in not requiring people to live in better conditions,” he said.But Metzler’s main concern is the relationship between the county and the HSPPR, such as the differences in the reports filed on the Funk Road case between the sheriff’s office and the HSPPR. Metzler said one agency should be responsible for relaying information to the media and the pubic.The growth in eastern El Paso County and the vast area is challenging to the HSPPR as well. Metzler met with Sheriff Terry Maketa Jan. 16 to “work to remedy” the problems.Whatever remedies they come up with may not be good enough for the neighbors and others on the eastern plains.Jerry and Dianne Rineck, who had sold two horses to their neighbors, the Gargalas, thinking they were animal lovers, too, found one of the horses in questionable shape, he said. All that remained of the other horse was a skeleton.Until the deputies arrived in November, Jerry Rineck said he and other neighbors were unable to view the animals from the road. “We couldn’t get on their property,” he said. “They had the trailers lined up like stagecoaches in a circle, surrounding the property and hiding the animals. These people had everyone in the neighborhood taken in.”Rineck said he isn’t convinced that the Gargalas should have been allowed to keep any animals. Regardless, he said it’s time for the eastern plains to establish a special district to protect animals. The Rinecks, along with other neighbors, have registered a new organization – SAINT (saving animals in need together) – with the state, and they plan to secure an official nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service.With an organization that is familiar with the area, Rineck said they could intervene with people like the Gargalas, whom he referred to as animal collectors, perhaps preventing animal suffering.To learn more about SAINT, call Rineck at 541-3099. The group meets every Saturday morning and is looking for volunteers and donations, including land.
